The Magic and Way of Merlin
by Kiara Rosalee
Summary: Jewlie and Ben are almost obsessed with magic. So when Jewlie gets a book of wizardry, they're excited to become wizards. But Jewlie's dad thinks something else, and gives her a different book to study. And that leads to the adventure of a lifetime.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I started writing this story about three months ago, based off T.A. Baron's "The Merlin Effect". I had written more than this, but hated it, so I'm totally revising and have these two chapters so far. I'll try to continue.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "The Merlin Effect"

THE MAGIC AND WAY

-of-

MERLIN

kiara rosalee

CHAPTER ONE

"Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin," Ben read. "Wow! That must be some really cool stuff!"

"It is! I've read through it at least three times!" Jewlie replied. "Look."

She flipped through a few pages and jabbed down her right pointer finger.

"Chapter X: Amulets, Talismans, and Magical Items!" she said.

"So?" Ben asked inquiringly.

"Look!" She drew her finger to the bottom of the page. "'The Thirteen Magical Treasures of the Islands of Britain'!"

Ben's face lit up.

"The treasures of Merlin?" he asked excitedly.

Jewlie nodded.

"Each are pictured in this book and if you can find all of them you are a real wizard!"

"But how can you tell? I mean, aren't there at least three cauldrons in this book? How do you know which one is the 'capital cauldron'?" Ben asked.

"They are each marked with the Merlin's mark, an hourglass turned on its side." Jewlie said.

Ben looked extremely intrigued.

"Go get some paper and a pen. We can write where all of the treasures are so we won't ever forget!"

Ben scurried off. In the meantime, Jewlie turned back to the book.

"The flaming sword, the bountiful basket, the horn of delectable drinks…" she muttered under her breath.

Ben returned with a few sheets of paper and a black pen.

Jewlie removed the pen cap and placed it on the opposite end and drew the mark of Merlin at the top of the page.

Curling underneath it she wrote:

_The Thirteen Magical Treasures of the Island of Britain_

-Flaming Sword; Bountiful Basket; Horn of Delectable Drinks; Sweet Chariot; Handy Halter; Notable Knife; Capital Cauldron; Wonderful Whetstone, Commodious Coat; Pleasing Pan and Dish; Champion Chessboard; and the Cloak of Invisibility-

By the time she had finished Ben was practically breathing her ear.

"A little room please," she said, and Ben backed up two or three steps. "Thank you."

Than she turned to the very first page of Wizardology, and began looking for the thirteen objects.

"Look!" Jewlie cried. "The Handy Halter in Chapter II!"

Jewlie wrote it down.

"And there's the sword!" Ben pointed. "In Chapter IV!"

"Capital Cauldron, Chapter IX,"

And so this went on for quite a while until they had found all of the thirteen hidden objects.

The final list looked like this:

_The Thirteen Magical Treasures of the Island of Britain_

-Flaming Sword; Bountiful Basket; Horn of Delectable Drinks; Sweet Chariot; Handy Halter; Notable Knife; Capital Cauldron; Wonderful Whetstone, Commodious Coat; Pleasing Pan and Dish; Champion Chessboard; and the Cloak of Invisibility-

Chapter II: Handy Halter

Chapter IV: Flaming Sword

Chapter IX: Capital Cauldron

Chapter XII: Wonderful Whetstone & Notable Knife

Chapter XIII: Bountiful Basket

Conclusion: Cloak of Invisibility

Chapter VII: Horn of Delectable Drinks

Chapter VI: Pleasing Pan & Dish

Chapter III: Champion Chessboard

Chapter VII: Sweet Chariot

Chapter III: Commodious Coat

It was all jumbled up and quite out of order because the treasures were well hidden; but, all the same, they were quite pleased with their efforts.

"Wow Ben! We did it! We're wizards!" Jewlie cried.

"Yeah!" he said excitedly, than looked puzzled. "Will it still work even though we found them together?"

Jewlie thought for a moment, frowning.

"Yeah, I think so. Who knows? We'll just have to test it out." Jewlie said.

"Yeah, okay. But you should probably go now," Ben said, glancing at his watch. "My mum'll be home soon, and she won't be too pleased if your still here."

"Probably not," Jewlie said. "Your mum doesn't like me much."

"Yeah, see you."

"Bye."

Clutching her book to her chest Jewlie stood and walked through the back gate.

Once at her house Jewlie opened the door to the back room and stepped in. She wiped her boots on the small rugs and entered their large, grey colored kitchen. Her father was seated at the table reading the newspaper and drinking out of a yellow mug.

"Hey, Jewlie! Where were you?" her dad asked.

"I was with Ben."

"That's good. What's that you've got there?" her father said, noting Jewlie's book.

"Just a book," she replied dazedly.

"Which book?"

Jewlie turned the book around to show her father the cover.

"The Book of Wizardology," she said.

Her father made a gesture for her to hand the book to him and she did so.

As he opened the front cover the paper she and Ben had been writing on fluttered to the floor.

He read it carefully then asked, "What's this?"

Jewlie turned the book's pages to chapter ten. She pointed at the list.

Her father read it than began to chuckle and soon was howling with laughter.

"What?" said Jewlie crossly snatching up the book. "There's nothing funny about it!"

"You really believe this book? You believe that if you can spot those thirteen treasures among its pages it will make you a wizard?" her father asked, once his laughter had subsided and he soon began chortling again after this comment.

"You just don't believe in magic!" Jewlie said scornfully slamming the book shut and gathering it under her arm. "You're making fun of me because I do!"

Then her father's face grew quite serious. The joyful gleam left his eye, his features hardened, and the curly hairs of his stout grey beard stopped quivering.

"I believe in magic," he said in an almost stern tone. "And I'm not making fun of you at all."

He stood up very slowly and Jewlie wondered for a moment if he was going to slap her.

But instead he turned and walked towards the door exiting the kitchen.

"Come," he said in the same solemn manner.

Jewlie followed him through the living room and into their large, spacious library, with the huge picture window at one end and the many bookshelves lining the remaining walls.

He continued speaking as he marched along the shelves, plainly searching for a book.

"You have all the right to believe in magic," her father said. "You just need the correct information to believe in. The correct resources. Aha!"

On the last word he plucked a book from the shelf at his eye-level and held it out to Jewlie. It had a battered, blue leather cover and looked extremely old.

When she opened it she noticed that the papers were thin and fragile like in her Bible, but yellowed with age and slightly ripped. On the first page of the book was written in clumsy writing:

The Merlin Effect

"Why, this is hand-written," Jewlie commented.

"Yes it is," her father replied, his face showing no emotion.

"But, who is it written by?" Jewlie asked, noticing that there was no author's name.

"You'll have to find that out yourself."

And with that he turned and promptly left the library.

Extremely puzzled Jewlie took both of the books and escaped up to her bedroom.

She curled up in her chair by the window, switched on a lamp (it was growing quite dark out), and opened the old leather book to the first page.

It still said: _The Merlin Effect _with no apparent change.

She flipped a few more pages until she came upon _Chapter One _written in the same awkward writing.

Jewlie began to read. It started out rather dull, about a girl named Kate and her father, a historian, and his research team Isabella, a marine biologist, and Terry, a graduate student in undersea geology researching in Baja California when she finds out about the Resurreccíon a ship that was wrecked in the San Lazaro Lagoon in 1547 A.D.

It did not grow more interesting, but Jewlie wanted to give the book a fair chance; however she was rather tired even though it was only 7:30. So Jewlie put the book aside, clicked off her lamp, and went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm not quite done with this chapter, but I wanted to post it so chapter 1 wouldn't be lonely. Just kidding. But please review me ideas. I'd love to here them.

CHAPTER TWO

The next morning Jewlie woke early. She dressed quickly and sat in her chair to continue her reading of _The Merlin Effect_.

The window was fogged with the morning mist and when she rubbed away a small circle with her hand she saw the sun coming up over the soft, cotton clouds so bold and red and dazzling against the soft yellows, purples, and peaches.

Just as she was deep into her book, nearly on the edge of her seat with suspense, a knock came at her door.

"Who is it?" she called quietly.

"Ben," a voice replied, slightly muffled by the heavy, oak door.

"Oh, c-come in," she said, stifling a yawn (for it was still rather early).

Ben entered the room and after noting her position, sat on the edge of her bed.

"You're out early," Jewlie commented

"Mum's in a right mood today," Ben explained. "The dog tramped mud all over the new white carpet.

"I see," Jewlie said.

"What are you reading?" Ben asked, suddenly noticing the book.

"Oh, it's called _The Merlin Effect_. Dad gave it to me yesterday. According to him, Wizardology is a fake. Just a little kids entertainment. He said, well, I _think_ he meant that all the information we need is in this book."

"Really?" Ben said, looking, of all things, disappointed. "So we're not wizards?"

"I guess not."

"Than how do we become them?"

"I-I honestly don't know. I would ask my father, but he seemed very keen to keep out of my way yesterday, after he gave me the book of course."

"Maybe he doesn't know anything," Ben said, shrugging.

"I'm not sure, but he must know _something _unless he was lying about _The Merlin Effect_," Jewlie said decidedly.

"I'll bet your right. What do we do next, then?"

"I'm not sure. I'm just going to keep reading."

"Could you, maybe, read aloud?" Ben asked hopefully.

"I suppose so. But I'd better fill you in about what's happened so far first."

So Jewlie explained to Ben about Kate, her father, and his research team. How she had gone out in her kayak to explore the lake and cleared the breakers just as the sun was setting.

After the clarification, Jewlie continued the story. Only _then _did it get interesting.

The sun was setting and Kate was angry with her father. Knowing it was best for her to burn away some of her rage, she decided that no one would notice if dinner came a little late that evening. Pulling hard at the waves with her paddle, she tore beyond the first buoy.

Suddenly she realized a whale had caught onto the net holding the satellite dish—which Terry used to monitor the under-sea territory—with his tail! She wondered…

Finally she reached for the first knot holding the net to the buoy and after some straining, un-tied it. She reached for the second, struggled for a moment or two, than it broke free.

But the whale was still stuck and she realized to set the whale free she would have to snap the rod of the satellite dish. Reaching down in to the icy sea, she found her hold, pulled hard, and watched it break away.

Pleased with her self she watched the whale disappear. She turned and began to head back towards shore only to discover that not one but two buoys were ahead of her. The current had carried her out, closer to the whirlpool!

She pulled and pulled with her paddle but this gained her no headway! The second buoy disappeared into the mist. Than out of the fog and huge shadow appeared like a ship and she paused in awe to stare.

"Suddenly, a great wave swept over her, an avalanche of foam, capsizing the kayak." Jewlie read. "A few seconds later the small boat drifted back to the surface, floating aimlessly. For now it carried no passenger.

"Chapter Three: The Horn of Merlin.

" "Scrambled eggs, coming up," announced Jim Gordon, trying for the third time to light the burner. "Just can't—"

"Just a minute, hold on," Ben butted in. "How did Kate get out of the water? Is she okay? Whose her father cooking eggs for?"

"Her father saved her, of course she is—apart from some mild shock--, and Kate," Jewlie explained almost exasperatedly.

"How do you know all this?"

"It's called inferring, Benjamin," Jewlie said mildly.

"Oh," said Ben. "Well, I guess continue."


End file.
